Changes coming to Grandfather Mountain eagle habitat
A new addition is expected to arrive soon at Grandfather Mountain’s new eagle habitat in the High Country of N.C. An adult bald eagle currently housed at the Alaska Raptor Center is expected to move east where it will join Griffin, an adult male.
Griffin has been at Grandfather Mountain since March. He arrived with a female eagle, named Isis, from the Nebraska Raptor Center. They were quarantined until a brand new eagle habitat opened in May. Grandfather Mountain previously had two separate enclosures for a bald eagle and a golden eagle. When those two birds passed away from old age, the staff combined the two areas into one big habitat. The expanded space is approximately 3,000 square feet.
{module Share this!|none}Both Isis and Griffin were brought to Grandfather Mountain because their injuries made it impossible to survive if they were released in the wild. Griffin was blind in his right eye, is believed to be deaf in his right ear, and suffered neurological damage. Isis had suffered lead poisoning and was blind in her left eye. Despite the staff’s attempts to put up dark “privacy” sheets along enclosure’s fence to help her cope, Isis remained agitated and continued flying into the fence, causing her more trauma and injury. Sending her back to a rehab center would have only been a temporary solution because those centers are unable to offer a permanent home. Habitat managers and veterinarians finally decided it was unfair and inhumane to keep an animal medicated just for the sake of having it on display for the public, and Isis was humanely euthanized.
“Griffin wasn’t with Isis long enough to become a bonded pair,” said Christie Tipton, Animal Habitat Curator at Grandfather Mountain. “He’s doing awesome. He’s very calm and he’s settled in so well.”
The gender of Griffin’s new eagle friend is unknown at this point, but Tipton says she suspects it’s a female based on its size of 10 to 11 pounds. But even if it turns out to be male, it will still be an appropriate habitat mate for Griffin.
“We’re not technically allowed to breed them,” said Tipton. “Eagles are a fairly social bird so two males would still get along well. I need to do some more research about how to find out what sex it is.”
The new eagle from Alaska is completely non-flighted. “It ruptured a tendon on one wing and can never fly again,” said Tipton.
Since the new bird won’t be able to reach the higher perches that Griffin uses, maintenance workers are building lower perches in the habitat. There are caves where it can retreat in bad weather. Griffin prefers to stay higher and doesn’t use the caves, so they are also making him a shelter that’s higher off the ground that he can use.
In the wild, eagles eat a lot of fish. At Grandfather Mountain, they are fed fish, rabbit and quail. “We also fast them one day a week so they don’t get overweight,” said Tipton. Eagles in captivity can live 40 to 50 years and precautions are taken to ensure their health. They receive check-ups every three months—from beaks to eyes to tendons.
When Isis and Griffin first arrived at Grandfather Mountain, contest participants donated a dollar to suggest names. Proceeds from this contest went toward the animal habitats. It’s not known yet if another contest will be held to name the new bird.
Want to go? grandfather.com or 800.468.7325.